Jackets, Ties and Memories
by LorelaiSquared
Summary: As a special event nears, Lee and Amanda remember some of the key moments in their relationship


Fics

Lee Stetson stepped out of the shower and smiled to himself in the mirror as he toweled off. Everything was falling into place for him to marry his best friend and partner, Mrs. Amanda King. It was a light week at work, and, provided their blood tests came through in time, arrangements had been made for them to be married by the end of the week. They'd both booked some extra time off work for the occasion, and Lee was looking forward to having some uninterrupted time with Amanda. He quite liked her mother and her children, and he was rather fond of his co-workers, particularly Francine and Billy, but all the same, he got precious little alone time with Amanda and he was rather looking forward to it.

Smiling again at the thought of Amanda, Lee strode to the closet. He was about to pull one of his usual dark work suits off the hanger when he spotted a gray suit with a tie draped over it. The tie was a slightly darker gray then the suit and had a red pattern printed on it. The instant he saw it, Lee recalled the last time he'd worn it, and he couldn't stop himself from grinning broadly.

It was the jacket and tie he'd worn a few months earlier when he'd finally taken his fate into his own hands, locked the office door and kissed Amanda King for the first time. After months of frustrating near kisses and stolen looks, it had been a relief to finally find himself kissing her properly. His heart had felt very full that day and he had tried to memorize every moment of the occasion, searing each sensation into his memory.

They'd kissed for ages in the office, neither of them wanting to stop for fear of breaking the bond that seemed to exist between them. Finally, Lee had reluctantly pulled away, taken her hand in his, led her out of the office and taken her for a long drive. Where they'd actually driven, he couldn't recall - it didn't matter. The important thing was Amanda and being with her. They talked while he drove and then, after driving for what seemed like hours they stopped and walked, hand in hand, pausing ever once in a while to hug each other or kiss. By the time he'd finally dropped her off at home, they'd made plans to see each other outside of work the next day, and it was as he felt a tightening in his chest while he watched her walk away from him that he finally acknowledged a fact that he'd been ignoring for months: he was falling in love with Amanda King.

Now, here he was, just a handful of months later, about to marry her and he felt more complete and happy than he'd ever thought possible. Unable to resist the gray jacket and tie, and the wonderful memories that came with them, Lee pulled them from the hanger and put them on, wondering if Amanda would recognize them.

Twenty minutes later as he was exiting the jewelers with their wedding rings in hand, he spotted a flower shop across the street and on impulse he stopped to purchase Amanda a single pink rose. Pleased with himself, Lee adjusted his tie and strode happily around the corner to IFF to surprise her.

Amanda King followed Lee Stetson with her eyes as he strode from the office. She smiled as the door clicked closed and touched her fingers to her lips where just moments before he'd kissed her heartily. She thought back on the exchange that had just taken place between them and her heart began to thump rapidly.

The first thing she'd noticed when he'd stepped into the office had been his attire. She recognized the suit and tie instantly as being the ones he'd worn on the day that had changed their lives forever. She'd committed every moment of that day to memory and she was touched that he was wearing the same outfit again on a day where so many pieces of their wedding were coming together. She wondered for a moment if it had been accidental, but then she remembered that it was Lee she was dealing with, and any man who could remember the jacket he'd worn on some random case would clearly remember what he'd worn on a day as important as that one had been to the two of them.

Amanda sighed and sank into her desk chair, her thoughts a million miles away as she recounted the day mentally. Shivers circuited up her spine as she thought of the way he'd locked the door and strode toward her in determination. When she closed her eyes she could almost feel his arms around her as he hugged her to him, could feel his lips pressed against hers as he claimed her mouth properly for the first time. She remembered how she'd surrendered herself over to him, channelling months of frustration into that first kiss and the many, many kisses that followed that day.

When he'd dropped her off at her house that evening she had been reluctant to leave him. They'd had such an amazing day, spent so much quality time together, that she'd feared the spell would be broken the moment he drove away. Much to her relief, the magic was still there the next evening when Lee surprised her with a romantic dinner and she soon discovered that kissing Lee was one of her most favorite things in the world.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, and certainly in her heart, she'd known that she was falling in love with Lee Stetson - and had been for a very long time - but it had still come as a complete shock to her when he'd suddenly told her he'd loved her during the Stemwinder case. It was so like Lee to just blurt it out like that, so sincerely and naturally, without any build up and once she'd gotten over the shock, she'd loved him all the more for it.

Amanda's eyes settled on the little ring box on her desk and she blinked, returning to the present, Stemwinder and first kisses fading back into the inner recesses of her memory. Her hands shook slightly as she picked up the black box and opened it to reveal their wedding rings - the ultimate symbol of their everlasting love for each other. She ran her index finger over her ring to feel the smooth, rounded metal. She carefully pulled it out of it's slot and repeated the action with the inside of the ring. Much too her surprise it felt rough and when she held it up to the light to investigate she could see that it was engraved.

Deeply touched that Lee had gone to such measures, Amanda forced herself to refrain from reading it - she wanted to wait until her wedding day and let Lee surprise her. As she carefully put it back, she had an idea, and after double checking to make sure that Lee's ring wasn't also engraved, she pocketed the box and left the office with a conspiratorial smile on her face.

3


End file.
